Mirror Mirror, Mao Mao
by Azure Umbra
Summary: What exactly happened to Mao Mao after the moment Bao Bao, his only friend, abandoned him in the cave all those years ago. How did he escape after having lost his tail in there? At the time, it could only be felt that his battles and losses just came one after another...


Mao Mao stumbled and pushed himself forward with however much strength he thought he had, hoping he could make his way out of that blasted cave already. He struggled to keep his breathing under control; he was on the verge of hyperventilating and he could feel an urge to both scream and sob trying to claw its way up his chest and out his mouth. His legs felt like they were being yanked to the ground like magnets, prompting him to pull himself along using his sword as a crutch. He vaguely thought about the tail he left behind under that giant rock, how it was just lying under there crunched flat without an owner to keep it company. He briefly recalled the dog that ran off into the distance while he held up that same rock, not even taking a second glance back at him. Whatever that recent memory made him feel, it certainly didn't make him feel happy in the slightest.

The light up ahead that signaled the cave's exit seemed to taunt Mao Mao, like it would move further away the closer he got to it. As if the stabbing and needling pain of where his tail used to be wasn't enough, he heard a loud smash from behind him. He turned his head to notice that the giant four-legged saurian monster with the scar over its eye had gotten past the boulder and now had its sights on him. Mao Mao was sure he was still in too much pain to even try running towards the exit and the monster was already rampaging towards him at twice the speed. Trying to stifle the shaking in his stance, Mao Mao concentrated, trying not to think about the creature possible trampling over his lost tail that was likely still back there, and then lifted up his sword in front of him to defend himself.

The monster charged at Mao Mao, so he braced himself for when the beast got close enough to him. At the last second, right when the monster was about to trample and snap its jaws on him, he leapt to the side while deflecting the beast's teeth with his sword, doing a little impromptu roll in the process. He then jumped forward at the monster's sides, swinging and stabbing with his sword in hopes of disabling it somehow. He even went for the limbs to try for better results. He was partially successful; the monster roared in response to Mao Mao's strikes in those particular areas and Mao Mao took advantage of said monster's resulting brief moments of hesitation to land more slashes at its undersides, belly, and neck. It may have looked easy from the outside, but inside, Mao Mao was trying very hard to concentrate. All the fast movements he was making was putting more pain and agitation on his tail stump, which only served to try and pull him down again, to weaken him when he didn't want to be.

Mao Mao could sense the monster regaining its bearings before turning its burning eyes directly at him. In that split-second, he wasn't sure if he could go on any longer as the pain was truly catching up to him again. If it hurt a little back then, it hurt so much more now. The monster raised a front clawed paw to swing at Mao Mao, who in turn, quickly raised his sword to block the attack. The giant and heavy claw rammed into his blade with a piercing ding and caused Mao Mao to skid backwards on his feet across the rocky cave floor. He desperately tried not to fall on his rear, as he knew it would be agony if that happened. With little hesitation, he ran towards a bigger rock at the side and jumped on it. He then did a stronger jump to propel himself from the top of the rock and flew at the monster head-on, aiming for its face. When he got close enough to its eye level, he swung his sword again, subconsciously aiming for its scarred left eye. He wasn't sure if he meant it or not, but he missed, ending up only hitting the bridge of its nose. The monster immediately returned the favor by lifting its head to ram into Mao Mao's belly, sending him recoiling back into the air in the opposite direction before spinning around to slam its tail into him again. Mao Mao flew through the air until he crashed onto the cave floor back first, making an inaudible scream of white-hot pain as he briefly scraped against the rocks and rolled on his side a couple times.

For a moment that lasted for eternity, it was torture. If felt like he was stabbed for real, like blades or needles were jammed into where his open amputated wound was, like some little things were biting, gnawing, eating their way into where he bled. He internally screamed at himself to ignore it all, trying to push himself back onto his feet, but his arms were shaking too furiously to be of any use. He found himself collapsing back down onto the cave floor, lying on his front as he blacked out.

* * *

_Mao Mao was ecstatic over the dream of becoming a legendary hero. He knew his father was the most legendary hero of all and he wanted to show him he was truly a hero's son. _

_Holding his wooden sword, he jumped off a springboard and spun around in the air before landing on his feet. He happened to land next to his father, but he was too busy training his sisters._

_He ran around on the grass with his wooden sword in the air, feeling the excitement of possibly getting to do hero things. He didn't notice the trash can up ahead, ending up tripping over it. He couldn't help but cry._

* * *

Mao Mao's vision returned to him in a hazy blur, both in sight and sound. He paused, wondering just where exactly was he waking up in. He forced his head upright in the direction of muffled sounds and his vision cleared, exposing a fierce monster standing in front of him, meters away from where he lay. He blinked a few times to try and make sense of what he was seeing, even while the snarling thing stepped quickly towards him, closer and closer. He wondered to himself if this was it, if that was how his story was going to end. Was it okay for him to stop at this point? Maybe he can take a rest? He just wanted wherever his tail used to be to stop hurting, to just quit bothering him already. It was hard enough trying to tell his body to get up when he saw the monster get close, really close. When he saw its toothy maw open up just inches from his face, that's when he was finally reminded of what he was supposed to do.

The monster's teeth snapped together and Mao Mao somersaulted backwards away from it. Once he landed back on his feet again, he ricocheted onto some bigger rocks and then bounced off a nearby cave wall. He landed on top of a broken column and slashed with his sword at some neighboring stalagmites, breaking off their tips. He used his sword as a bat to whack these broken fragments while they were in the air, sending them hurling at the monster's face. It proved to be a successful distraction as the monster squinted, tightly shutting its eyes as the pieces of rock smashed into pieces against its face, leaving little clouds of dust on impact.

Taking his sword in hand, Mao Mao leapt off the column he stood on and carefully aimed at where he was landing, touching down on the monster's back. He immediately sprinted across its spine and with his sword raised, thrusted the tip into one of the creature's back fins. The fact that this part of the monster's body was thinner and flatter than the rest of the creature's bulk was enough for Mao Mao, despite his pain, to keep going. The monster, in turn, howled at the sudden pain the little cat was giving it and squirmed violently, trying to buck him off.

Mao Mao jumped just as the monster's spine humped up. He didn't care that the monster was still alive. He just hoped he put it in enough pain for it to not notice him dashing back to the entrance. He kept his eyes forward, only lowering his head and squeezing his eyes shut from the glare of the sunlight as he got closer to freedom.

* * *

At last, he made it outside the cave. The sounds of birds, trees, and the wind gracing his big ears proved to be a soothing quick remedy to the pain of his missing tail. In any other circumstance, he would have been leisurely strolling, sitting down on a log to take in the atmosphere. However, he still had the lingering thought of the angry monster still behind him, possible still after him, and he continued sprinting, even while the pain of his missing tail wound persisted to hamper his movements. Mao Mao shook his head. He needed to concentrate. All he had to do first was find Bao Bao…


End file.
